Bureaucracy and Bursa

Exciting news coming to you directly from Istanbul --- I have successfully picked up my residency permit and am now allowed to stay in the country legally!

If you are interested in learning more about the wondrous world of Turkish bureaucracy continue on. If not, there is a far more excited section on my weekend trip to Bursa, Turkey in the second half of the post. 

PERMITS -

If you want to study abroad in Turkey…

Step 1: Obtain a Student Visa from a consulate in the U.S.

One would think that the process would end with step one, but no.

Step 2: Upon arriving in Turkey, you must make a residency permit appointment within 30 days of arriving in the country. However you cannot have your appointment until you have all your necessary paperwork from the University, which, our school's case, was not handed to us until the end of February. During this period you are not allowed to leave Turkey because it is illegal to re-enter the country.

Step 3.  Go to your appointment at the central police station in Istanbul.

Let me tell you nothing is more fun than traveling 2 hours to the main police station in a city of 14 million people. My appointment was at 5:30, but I thought, “Hey why don’t I try and go a little early?” So, I get to the window at 4:15. No one is in line at the window. What joy! I am going to get this done quickly! I walk up to the window and hand them all the necessary paperwork. The man looks at the time and says “5:30.” Well, yes, I know it says 5:30 but considering no one is in line and you aren’t doing anything I thought I would give it to you now. He then says to me, “Shift ends at 5:00.” Again, I don’t really see how this is relevant information because it is 4:15 and the paperwork takes maybe 5 minutes to process. But, alas, he hands back the paperwork goes and gets a piece of baklava and a cup of tea and starts talking to the guy next to him. Adjlhvasclavscjhkhgfdgksv! Are you kidding me?

So, I stand in front of him giving him the evil eye and wait until 5. At five a new guy shows up. I walk to the window and hand him the paperwork. He points to the time and says “5:30. Reception Room.” No, I am not going to the stupid reception room. I am going to stand here and make direct eye contact with you for the next half an hour and smile at you until you take my paperwork. Its 5:21… I am still standing in line. More people are coming and the room is getting crowded. I hand him the paper work at 5:25. He holds up his hand saying 5 minutes. At 5:30 he takes my paperwork. Guess I just shouldn’t have come early.

After putting me into the computer he hands me a receipt and points to another window where we have to pay for the permit. Of course, it only makes sense that the payment office would be open from 9:00 – 4:00 and you apply for the permits from 5:30- 9:00 p.m. This means you have to come back the next day.

After another 2 hour commute back to my university, step 3 is complete.

Step 4:

Make the trek all the way back to the Police Station. Of course you don’t need an appointment to pay because they will accept your money at any time in the day. 

Step 5:

Return two weeks later to pick up your permit.

Some of my friends had an earlier date than I did so I decided to take a chance and go with them. Success! I picked up my permit yesterday and am officially a resident of Turkey until June! I am now allowed to leave and enter the country freely!

BURSA -

Last weekend a group of my friends decided to spend a few days in Bursa, a city about two hours south of Istanbul. I didn’t really know much about Bursa, but was eager to explore another city in Turkey. The journey consisted of a 1.5 hour ferry ride and an hour bus ride and we arrived in Bursa around noon on a beautiful, sunny afternoon.

One of the main sites in Bursa is the Green Mosque and Tomb pictured below.

Outside the mosque we met a man who offered to give us a free tour because he was one of the people who worked on restoring the tiles. Always a bit skeptical of anything free, we hesitantly accepted. Tour was great and afterwords he took us to his shop where he showed us many old cermanics and rugs that he was restoring. He generously offered us all tea and I think most of us were still thinking…. What’s the catch?

In the Rug Store Drinking Apple Tea

He then told us to meet him in an hour and he would take us to a small café to listen to some folk music.

The music was great – one of the most authentically Turkish expierences I’ve had.

He then took us to a restaurant where we had Iskender – a Turkish dish that is known in Bursa. It is thinly sliced lamb with tomato sauce served over pita with a side of Yogurt. Definitely one of my favorite foods so far! 

After dinner he asked if we would like to see a Whirling Dervish show? I asked how much it would cost and he said that it would be free. Free? Still? I am confused why does this 40 year old man want to spend his whole evening with a group of American college students?

But we went to the show, and it was amazing to watch. The Whirling Dervishes are part of the Muslim mystic sect called Sufism.  While this sect is very small today, they are still well known for the whirling dervish ceremony. The place we went to was fairly small and again we were the only tourists. From a balcony above, we watched men and boys spin around to live music. The whole ceremony couldn’t have lasted more than 40 minutess, but all of the participants did not stop spinning the whole time. Let me repreat that – Spinning. Quicky. In a circle for 30 mins without stopping. It was mesmerizing.

After the ceremony, our guide gave us his card. Told us that he had  a great time getting to meet us. He said that he lived with an America for 6 years when he was a teenager and was just trying to give back. It was a good reminder that there are still really friendly people in the world!

Instead of heading back to Istanbul, we decided to spend the night. Hooray for cheap hostels and comfortable jeans to sleep in.

The next morning I went with four girls to a Turkish Hamam as Bursa is well known for their bath houses. The Hamam is similar to a spa expect you also bath yourself and it has more of a social feel. Out of the 100 + people at the Hamam, the four of us were the only foreigners so it was nice to be able to see Turkish families enjoying their Saturday at the bath together.

For 48tl (~$28), I spent two hours at the Hamam.  I received a message, a Turkish scrub, spent time in the sauna and pool area. The scrub is where you have two women violenetly rub down your body with something similar to sandpaper to remove all the dead skin on your whole body. While the expierence was a tad painful, my skin has never felt more smooth. 

(For obvious reasons pictures in the Hamman were not possible).

After the Hamam we headed back to Istanbul - For absolutely zero planning it turned out to be a fabulous weekend!